


Living Proof

by lanaroolz



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Panic Attacks, Relationship Reveal, Secret Relationship, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, kind of, really just fluff theres barely any plot in here guys, roughly canon compliant but also they are in a universe where soulmates exist so, the markhyuck soulmate agenda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29809743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanaroolz/pseuds/lanaroolz
Summary: Here’s the thing about soulmates: most people never found them. In South Korea, only 38% of people have met their soulmate by age 40, only 14% by age 25, and less than 3% before the age of 15.Donghyuck was 14 when he first met Mark Lee, 14 when Mark’s hand accidentally brushed the skin on his chest underneath his left collarbone, 14 when a soulmark in the shape of the sun bloomed on his skin where Mark had touched him for the first time.Donghyuck is now 22, sitting next to Mark in a conference room in the SM Entertainment building at six in the morning, squeezing his hand under the table.-Donghyuck and Mark have been soulmates since the day they met, at the ages of 14 and 15. Or, since the day they were born, depending on how you look at it. The fans don't know, of course, but maybe it's about time that they did.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 41
Kudos: 355
Collections: Markhyuck, My Favorite FAVORITE Fics, Neo got back





	Living Proof

**Author's Note:**

> Hello once again markhyuck nation I have returned! I honestly don't know what happened to me with this fic it was supposed to be like maybe 2k and then I turned around, and it was done and almost 7k lmao. This is definitely the fastest turn around I've ever had on a fic. What can I say, my vision of markhyuck doing a vlive couple reveal was so strong that it manifested itself, haha. I hope you like it :) 
> 
> [Here's my twitter if you wanna come say hi](https://twitter.com/lanaroolz)

\- ҉ -

**@nct_sunflower:** [ _image attached_ ] is this what I think it is???? HAECHAN SOULMATE

> **@hy__uck_666** _replied_ : **@nct_sunflower** If that isn’t a soulmark I will eat every single one of my photocards
> 
> **@_jenonono_** _replied_ : **@nct_sunflower** none of the dreamies reacted to it at all how long do you think hes had it???
> 
> **@fulll_sunnn** _replied_ : **@nct_sunflower** Haechan has a soulmate and its not me???????/ I hate it here

**@NE0Z_0NE127:** Woke up this morning to find out that haechan has met his soulmate omg hes not even 25

> **@sun_and_m000n** _replied_ : **@NE0Z_0NE127** I literally cant when was the last time an idol met their soulmate so young? Has this ever happened before?

**@j0hnnys_first_wife:** [ _image attached_ ] Okay calm down people it could be a tattoo we dont know about? Or maybe a trick of the light? Or its a okay im absolutely kidding myself thats definitely a fucking soulmark im—

\- ҉ -

Donghyuck wakes up to the sound of his phone buzzing so incessantly that it launches itself off of his nightstand and falls to the floor in a loud clatter.

“Would you turn your phone off?” Johnny grumbles from the other side of the room, turning over to pull his pillow over his head as Donghyuck’s phone continues to buzz on the floor.

“Sorry, sorry,” Donghyuck says, crawling out of bed and trying to grab his phone, which is vibrating so aggressively that it evades his first few attempts to pick it up. He tries to turn it off vibrate when he finally snatches it, but he’s getting so many notifications that his phone is barely responding to his aggressive swiping. 

Finally, the notifications stop for long enough for him to toggle on Do Not Disturb, and Donghyuck lets out a tired sigh. It’s 5:13am, which means he’s slept less than three hours. He tries to scroll through his notifications with bleary eyes, but they keep coming in one after another, making them impossible to read.

Eventually, he just opens KKT and clicks his most recent message, which is one from his sister: it says, “youve really done it now hyung,” with a link to an article entitled, “Has NCT Haechan Found His Soulmate?”

Well, fuck.

\- ҉ -

Here’s the thing about soulmates: most people never found them. In South Korea, only 38% of people have met their soulmate by age 40, only 14% by age 25, and less than 3% before the age of 15.

Donghyuck was 14 when he first met Mark Lee, 14 when Mark’s hand accidentally brushed the skin on his chest underneath his left collarbone, 14 when a soulmark in the shape of the sun bloomed on his skin where Mark had touched him for the first time.

Donghyuck is now 22, sitting next to Mark in a conference room in the SM Entertainment building at six in the morning, squeezing his hand under the table.

The Dream VLive that he had accidentally stumbled into last night and gotten into an impromptu wrestling match with Jeno during had been deleted already, but the screenshots of Jeno grabbing at him, brazenly pulling the collar of his shirt over his left shoulder, were absolutely everywhere. The images were blurry, sure, but even the shoddy wifi couldn’t hide what was obviously a soulmark on Donghyuck’s skin, one that was only visible because he had already showered that night, washing off the concealer that he applies to it daily.

Back when Donghyuck and Mark had first met, there had been no protocol for what to do when two members of the same group were each other’s soulmate, much less two trainees who hadn’t even debuted, because it had simply never happened before. They agreed, after much discussion, to hide the fact that they were soulmates before making their first appearance with SM Rookies with the idea that the attention that it would inevitably have drawn to them, 15 and 16 at the time, would have been overwhelming. Donghyuck can’t help but think that they were right about that; even now, at the age of 22, he is unambiguously overwhelmed.

“Well,” Choi Minseo, their personal SM Soulmate PR Person™ says from across the conference table, breaking the silence, “there are a couple of different options for how to proceed, but I’d like to know what your thoughts are first before we begin. It is, after all, your relationship.”

Donghyuck looks at Mark, who, though unceremoniously dragged out of bed at five in the morning for a PR meeting over a scandal he did nothing to earn, gives him a tired smile.

“I’ve seen the pictures,” Donghyuck begins slowly, keeping his eyes on Mark for another second before turning to face her. “I don’t think it makes sense to deny that I’ve met my soulmate, especially since the fact that the VLive was deleted is pretty incriminating. We could put out a statement, something vague, that we’re together, that we’re very happy. We could even say I met them before debut and that’s why we hid it. There’s no reason for them to know it’s Mark,” he says with a glance back toward Mark, “so we don’t have to name him.”

“Hyuck—”

“Mark, think about it, we can do this as a trial run. If the response is good, then we can come out with everything and finally stop hiding it. If it’s not, well, then you won’t have to be dragged into it at all.”

Mark opens his mouth to reply, but Minseo beats him to it. “I think that’s a very good idea,” she says, plainly. “The truth is always better than a lie, but we could use the time to spin this and get the tabloids on our side. The last thing we want is for the fans to feel like they’ve been lied to, so telling them the whole truth now might backfire on us. Waiting until we have a handle on everything will make it easier to go forward with the story that we want to convey when we’re ready.”

Mark frowns, searching Donghyuck’s eyes for signs of hesitation. “I don’t like the idea of you doing this alone,” he says, finally.

In spite of himself, in spite of the early hour, in spite of the messy situation that they’ve gotten themselves into, Donghyuck smiles. “Mark,” he says, honestly, “I haven’t been alone a day since I met you.”

\- ҉ -

**[UPDATE] NCT Haechan Met His Soulmate at Age 14! Read SM Entertainment’s Official Statement Here**

[+493 / -63] Wow they confirmed that so fast

> _Reply_ : [+117 / -20] Well the pictures were pretty obvious lol it doesn’t surprise me that they didn’t bother trying to lie about it

[+232 / -197] 14 Korean age?? So 13?????????????? wtf thats so young

[+921 / -433] Who is it????

\- ҉ -

The press had been, quite surprisingly, good. It had been extremely good, actually. There had never been an idol that had publicly announced that they found their soulmate at age 22, and the offers for interviews and radio shows and variety shows were pouring in. The paparazzi had been insane, too. Every time Donghyuck so much as stepped foot outside, there were at least a dozen cameras going off from every angle, trying to get a picture of his soulmark, which he could finally, _finally_ , stop concealing.

Not having to hide his soulmark anymore is a relief like Donghyuck’s never known.

There have been a couple particularly good shots that the paps have snagged, if he says so himself, namely the ones of him walking out of the SM building, turned to face Mark, who was the lucky member chosen that day to attempt to shield him from the cameras. In it, Mark is wearing a bucket hat concealing bleached blond hair, laughing at some joke he made, and a few rays of Donghyuck’s soulmark are peeking out happily from the top of his t-shirt. Donghyuck saved it as his phone background.

Donghyuck rips his mind away from Mark’s cute laugh and focuses it back on the hosts of Soulmate FM, Seoul’s premier soulmate-interest radio show. Kim Jihoon and Kim Soojin are South Korea’s most famous soulmate couple, and he’s seen them before on variety shows and working various other emceeing gigs. Donghyuck has personally never spent a whole lot of time buying into soulmate culture, mostly because he already found his and also because he and Mark had never had a lot in common with any of the soulmate media stereotypes, but when the offer to appear on Soulmate FM had come through, Minseo had been _delighted_. “This is exactly the kind of press we’re looking for,” she’d said over the phone when she called him about the show, excitement positively dripping from her voice.

A producer on the other side of the studio glass begins counting down from five, and Donghyuck gives the camera for the viewable radio in the corner of the studio a bright smile.

“Hello listeners, welcome to Soulmate FM. I’m Soojin,” Soojin begins when they go live.

“And, I’m Jihoon.”

“And we are Seoul’s favorite soulmate couple, here with the most exciting guest we’ve ever had!” Soojin says with a little laugh.

Donghyuck makes a noise in the back of his throat. “Ah, you flatter me,” he says.

“It’s true! We’ve never had an idol on here before,” Soojin says, eyes sparkling. “That’s right listeners, I’m sure you’ve all seen the news these past couple of weeks, but in case you missed it, two weeks ago, SM Entertainment revealed that Haechan of popular idol group NCT has found his soulmate. However, the even more shocking news was that he first met his soulmate when he was 14 years old!” Soojin looks over at Jihoon and asks, “Can you believe that, Jihoon-ssi?”

“14 years old, wow, that is unbelievable. Imagine if we met at 14.”

“I can’t even think about that. There’s no way I would have married you if I’d known you in middle school!” Soojin laughs before turning to look at Donghyuck. “Haechan-ssi, welcome to Soulmate FM! We’re so excited to have you here with us.”

“Thank you! I’m so happy to be here.”

“Okay, before we start, the male 18-25 demographic is certainly not our strongest here at Soulmate FM,” Jihoon says with a sly look. “Tell me, have you ever listened to the show before?”

Donghyuck laughs. “No,” he says, “but my PR person said that this would be great publicity, so here I am.”

“He’s honest! I like that,” Jihoon laughs.

“Wait, I have a question, too,” Soojin chimes in. “Is he listening right now?”

“Who?” Donghyuck asks.

“Your soulmate, obviously!”

“Oh,” Donghyuck laughs, and Jihoon and Soojin laugh, too. “Yes, yes, I think so.”

“Hello Haechan’s soulmate! We wish that we could meet you, too, but don’t worry, we’ll take very good care of Haechan-ssi while he’s here!” Soojin says, and Donghyuck laughs, imagining Mark’s face at being addressed so publicly as “Haechan’s soulmate.”

“Well, let’s start with the most obvious question,” Jihoon begins. “How is it going since the big reveal? How’s the fan response been so far?”

“It’s been really, really wonderful,” Donghyuck says, and he means it. While there had been plenty of negative comments from the public and fans alike, mad at him for having a soulmate, for hiding it, or for both, the majority of fans had reacted positively. In the one fan meeting NCT 127 had done since the whole soulmark ordeal, there had been an influx of girls who wanted to hear about his soulmate, asking about what it was like to have one, and even a few who wanted advice on how to meet theirs. One of their managers had given him a warning look when he’d suggested walking through the business district and touching as many people as possible as the answer to that particular question. “We never expected the support that we’ve gotten, both from NCTzens and from the general public, as well. It’s been overwhelming, to have so much attention on us, well on me, but it’s been really, really incredible. You know, finding each other so young is not very typical, and we weren’t sure what kind of reception there would be, but I’m so thankful that everyone seems to be as interested in my soulmate as I am. We keep saying we should have timed it with a comeback,” he jokes.

“Your soulmate is obviously staying out of the limelight right now,” Soojin follows up, “but how’s he handling all this attention on your relationship? Is it weird for him to see articles written about him?”

“He’s a little salty,” Donghyuck laughs, thinking about the pinched expression that Mark wore every time he’d left the dorms to go to another solo schedule for the past couple weeks, “and he gets anxious that I go out here by myself, but really, we’re both so relieved and grateful that the reception has been so good that I think we don’t have the time to be freaked out about anything else.”

“He gets anxious? What is he anxious about?” Jihoon asks.

“I think about not being here with me, you know? That I’m out here by myself, and he can’t be here with me,” Donghyuck says.

Soojin’s eyes light up. “That is so sweet.”

“You guys hid your relationship for a long time,” Jihoon considers. “What was it, 8 years?”

“Yes, 8 years.”

“Do you regret hiding it, keeping it from the fans, or do you think it was the right decision?” Jihoon asks

“Hah,” Donghyuck thinks back to their first, extremely awkward meeting with Minseo all those years ago, in that very same SM conference room, with Mark and him sat next to each other, but as far away as possible, surreptitiously sneaking glances at each other when they thought they weren’t looking. They didn’t even know each other, then. Aside from her initial shock at being told that two of the teenage trainees were each other’s soulmates, Minseo really did a very good job of handling a situation that he and Mark clearly had no idea how to. She very carefully instructed them to keep everything hidden until they had gotten a hold on the situation. It just so happened that that didn’t happen for a very, very long time. “It was definitely the right decision. We were so young when we met, there was a lot of resistance initially, to the fact that we were soulmates. You know, you’re a 14-year-old kid and suddenly you’re told, ‘This is it; this is your soulmate.’ We both didn’t know how to handle it. We would, or I would, at least, try to rile him up, almost like a test, like, if this guy’s really my soulmate, he’ll have to like me even if I’m being a brat, or whatever. When I first appeared on SM Rookies, we weren’t even dating.”

“You weren’t?” Soojin says, surprised

“No! Even after I debuted with NCT 127, we still weren’t _really_ together. It was almost like we were dating because we thought we had to, not because we wanted to be. There were a lot of expectations that we didn’t know how to meet, and it led to a lot of resentment. We got along as friends, but we fought a lot as partners. I think if our relationship had been public at that time, it would have put a huge strain on it. We barely knew what we were doing, and if people had been talking about how great our soulmate relationship was when we were still years from figuring out what it meant for ourselves, it would have been really difficult to navigate.”

“How did you learn to navigate it?” Soojin asks.

The answer to that, Donghyuck thinks, is complicated. They had days of fighting, pushing each other to the edge just because they could. Donghyuck was mean to Mark, he knows he was, but it was because he was insecure. To be dating someone because you felt you had to, to have them be dating you because they felt they had to, it was a disaster that culminated in a spectacular breakup. Mark accused him of being selfish, and he accused Mark of not being selfish enough, and Mark gathered his things and swapped rooms with Jaehyun. It was only weeks later, after he broke down crying in the middle of a Dream rehearsal, that they finally talked about everything, about the pervasive feeling that they were both trapped in a situation they had no control over. They decided to not be soulmates and to be partners instead, and that made all the difference.

“We were so young when we matched,” Donghyuck begins, “that even we started dating years later, we were still so young. We had one big fight, this was a few years ago now, but it put a lot into perspective for us, you know? Like, if we want a relationship, if we want to be together, it’s not just going to be because we’re soulmates, it’s going to be because we choose each other, because we love each other, because we work hard every day to be the best for ourselves and for each other, not because of any soulmark. And we had to decide to do it right, to love each other because we wanted to, not because we were supposed to.”

Soojin and Jihoon stare at him with wide eyes and a silence settles in the studio. They stare at him for long enough that Donghyuck starts to worry about dead air time.

“Wow, I’m speechless,” Soojin says, finally.

“I can’t believe you’re only 22,” Jihoon laughs. “It takes many people decades to reach that kind of insight into their relationships, soulmates or not.”

“Well, we’ve had nearly a decade,” Donghyuck huffs out a quiet laugh. “We were just underage for half of it!”

“I can’t imagine meeting Soojin-ssi at the age of 14 and being mature enough to realize that everything doesn’t just work out because you’re soulmates. You have to really try. You can’t take it for granted,” Jihoon says, catching Soojin’s eyes with a heavy look. The love in his eyes makes Donghyuck smile.

“I really try not to take him for granted.”

After that, the interview is breezy, but the looks that everyone behind the glass keeps giving him make him worry he’s said too much, maybe. Did he say anything that would give Mark away? He doesn’t think so, but he can’t help but be a little nervous when the producers keep staring at him.

“Haechan-ssi, you’re currently promoting in both NCT 127 and NCT Dream. Is the idol lifestyle hard on your relationship with your soulmate?” Soojin asks as the hour winds down, and it takes all of Donghyuck’s strength not to laugh and say that it probably would be if Mark wasn’t also promoting in NCT 127 and NCT Dream with him.

“I think the hardest was the tour in America.” Donghyuck very carefully does not say that it had been Mark on tour in America and not him. “It was the first time we were apart for so long, with such a dramatic time difference. We spent so much time together for so long, even when we were fighting, we were still together. To not be able to call him because of the time difference. It really put into perspective how much I relied on him for my mood, for my support. He’s my rock. Ahh,” Donghyuck buries his head in his hands, “that’s so cheesy. I can’t believe I said that.”

Soojin and Jihoon both erupt into laughter. “Haechan-ssi, talking to you has been so wonderful. It’s not very often you see a 22-year-old so wise! Your soulmate is very lucky,” Jihoon says.

Donghyuck figures that he’s already been as cheesy as possible today, so he might as well keep going now that he’s gotten this far. “Ah, no, no, I’m the lucky one. He’s incredible. Every day he inspires me to work hard and be the best version of myself.”

“Let’s end with a message for your soulmate,” Soojin says. “Haechan-ssi, you’ve been with him for eight years, and it sounds like you’ve really been through everything together. You said that he’s listening to the show; is there something you want to say to him?”

Donghyuck looks over at the camera in the corner and pictures Mark, huddled in his bed, watching the stream of the live radio, and smiles. There are a lot of things that he could say to Mark, but he figures that he’s already said most of them, in one way or another, so all he says is, “Hyung, I love you a lot. I’ll see you soon, okay? Wait up for me.”

\- ҉ -

“I think that went well,” Donghyuck says to his manager as he gets into the back of the van and powers back on his phone. He’s learned, the past couple of weeks, that it’s better to just turn it off completely when he’s on a schedule, since the notifications have still been trickling in at a steady pace since the VLive. His manager hums noncommittally, but there’s something in his voice that makes Donghyuck stop and turn around to look at him. “Hyung, are you—are you crying?”

His manager hurriedly wipes at his eyes as he gets into the passenger seat. “You just, it’s so sweet, that’s all. I’ve known you two a long time, and I forget how grown up you are now.”

“Aw, Hyung, stop. You’ll make me cry, too,” Donghyuck laughs in his most obnoxious aegyo voice. His manager turns around and throws a napkin at him.

“Don’t push your luck, kid,” he says while Donghyuck laughs loudly.

Donghyuck’s phone is absolutely inundated with messages, mostly from Dream who it looks like were live texting the whole show. There are a lot of vomit emojis, which he supposes he deserves, but come on, the show is called Soulmate FM, what did they expect? The 127 chat is similar, but about half an hour ago, Taeyong sent a paragraph-long text saying how proud he is of them, and after that the messages on the 127 chat devolve into crying emojis instead. Donghyuck rolls his eyes and spends the rest of the drive scrolling through the Dream group text before responding.

**YO DREAM**

**Jaem  
** Okay this is a lot even for me  
“we had to love each other because we wanted to not because we were supposed to” what fucking drama is this

 **Lele  
** The hosts are eating this up

 **Jeno  
** This is cute and all but I dont think I can listen for much longer I have exceeded my cringe limit for the day by about 1000x

 **LeLe  
** “hes my rock” omf 

**Jaem  
** HES MY ROCK

 **Jeno  
** Hes my rock im—

_Jaem changed Maaaaaaark’s nickname to “Haechan’s Rock”_

**Renjunnie  
** “he inspires me to be the best version of myself” I really cant take it anymore im gonna throw up

 **Jisungie 💜  
** Renjun-hyung says that hes going to throw up but I can hear him crying at how beautiful love is from his bed dont believe a word he says

 **Jaem  
** Omg junnie

 **Jeno  
** Renjunnie dont cry I’ll be your rock

 **Lele  
** LMAOOO

 **Renjunnie  
** Jisung u better sleep w one eye open tonight

 **Jisungie 💜  
** What r u gonna do cry on me?

 **Haechan  
** Awww renjunnie I knew you loved us! 💜  
Dw manager-hyung cried too so youre in good company  
I cant help it that mark and I’s love is so pure and inspiring ! 😇

 **Lele  
** Yeah inspiring me to vomit 🤢

 **Jisungie <3  
**Seriously I am ill

 **Jaem  
** I always wondered how u and mark kept all ur lovey dovey shit so under wraps that the fans never caught on but now I don’t care how you did it put it BACK

 **Haechan**  
No ☺️  
Also this is quite literally Jenos fault so if ur looking for someone to take ur anger at being single out on don’t look at meee

Mark hasn’t texted at all, neither him nor any of the NCT group chats that they’re both in. Maybe he wasn’t listening, after all. Well, that’s probably for the best. He can hardly recall what he said except that it was sappy enough to make both his manager and Renjun cry, which is a strong indication that it was embarrassing as fuck.

Donghyuck bounds into the dorm when he finally gets home shouting a greeting to everyone, but only Doyoung is still up, making tea in the kitchen.

“Welcome home, lover boy,” he says with a smirk.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes and flips him off as he crosses the apartment throws open the door to his room, a hello for Johnny on his tongue. Except, instead of Johnny, he finds Mark, sitting on his bed, looking up swiftly at the sound of the door opening. He’s about to accuse Mark of not listening to his radio show, but he’s stopped before he can begin when Mark abruptly stands and pulls him into a searing kiss, leaving Donghyuck to drop his bag on the floor and throw his arms around Mark’s shoulders.

“I love you,” Mark says, openly. “I love you so much.” Then, he kisses him again.

Donghyuck can’t stop himself from giggling through the kiss. “I take it you were listening?” he says when Mark finally pulls away.

Mark looks at him like he hung the stars and the moon in the sky and Donghyuck drinks it up. He looks at the way the light of the streetlamps filtering in through the blinds dances on Marks face and thinks, wow, he is in love with this man.

“I want to tell them. I want to tell everyone that I’m your soulmate. I really don’t care if the press is bad, I really, really don’t,” Mark says, brushing a strand of Donghyuck’s hair behind his ear. Donghyuck can feel the tension in the air, but it’s a good sort of tension, and he leans into it a little.

“When this all dies down a bit, okay? We’ll tell them as soon as it makes sense,” he says.

“Okay,” Mark says before his face morphs into a sheepish expression. “Can we have sex?”

Donghyuck laughs loudly before wriggling his eyebrows. “Babe, I thought you’d never ask,” is all he has time to say before Mark turns him around and pushes him into the mattress.

\- ҉ -

It happens so fast.

One minute, Donghyuck is walking through the airport, laughing at something Jungwoo is saying and the next, someone grabs him by the arm, and he hears shouting from all sides. Donghyuck can only let out a strangled cry as he gets pulled deeper into the crowd, the walls of people closing in around him. The noise around him rises until it culminates into a loud, clear, high-pitched ringing, and Donghyuck’s heart pounds loudly, rapid-fire in his chest.

It all starts to blur together a bit, after that.

Donghyuck comes to sitting on the floor of a bathroom with Mark’s hands on his shoulders and one of their managers standing a few feet away, talking in a harsh whisper on his phone. The cool of the blue tile beneath him bleeds through the material of his pants, making him shiver. “Breathe,” Mark is saying, as if underwater. “Breathe with me, Hyuck, come on.”

Donghyuck inhales a gulp of air and realizes that he’d been hyperventilating. He also realizes, blithely, that he’s crying as Mark reaches out to thumb away the tears from on face. “You’re good. You’re okay. I’m here,” he says, more clearly this time.

Donghyuck grabs Mark’s hands from his face and squeezes them, hard, and tries to match his breathing. Mark rubs soothing circles on the back of his shaking hands with his thumbs, and Donghyuck lets his head fall back against wall behind him with a soft thud, the rate of his heart slowly returning to normal.

After a long silence, Donghyuck inhales shakily to say something, but he can’t find his voice. It’s just as well, he has no idea what to say, anyway. He lets out the air in a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” Mark asks him when the manager exits the room, giving them some privacy.

Donghyuck huffs out a quiet laugh. He can still feel the bounding of his heart in his chest up to the tips of his fingers, and his eyes are sore from crying. “Like shit,” he says weakly. Mark doesn’t laugh.

“Donghyuck,” Mark says with an air of something that seems a lot like finality, “I love you. It kills me that I can’t do this with you, that I can’t be out there with you. Those crazy fans grabbed you, and the staff held me back from running to you. Hyuck, they held me back from you. I don’t think I can take it anymore. There have been so many times that I was dying to just tell everyone that it’s me. I don’t care if it makes my life awful; if they can’t hold me back from you ever again, it’ll be worth it a thousand times over.”

“I’m in love with you, and it kills me every day to hide it,” Mark says, eyes wide and sad. His voice drops to a whisper. “Please don’t make me hide it anymore.”

“Okay,” Donghyuck says unsteadily, reaching his hand to smooth out the skin underneath Mark’s eye with his thumb. “Okay, let’s not hide it anymore.”

\- ҉ -

**@NCity_GovernmentOfficial:** its no wonder sm kept heachans soulmark under wraps when this is the shit that happens when its public!! don’t bother calling yourself an nctzen if you think what happened to haechan at the airport is okay or justifiable in any way #LeaveHaechanAlone

**@JaeminsTeeth:** The pictures from today are so upsetting its hard to believe that there are really people out there who would do something like that. I really hope haechans okay :( #LeaveHaechanAlone

**@dnghyyck__s:** I’ve been crying all morning I think I’m gonna take the rest of the day off twitter take care of yourself guys

**@NCTV_zen:** ssngs really attacked Haechan at the airport just because he has a soulmark??? Make it make sense #LeaveHaechanAlone

**@culturre_tech:** [ _image attached_ ] omg mark, keep your hands off of him he has a soulmate

> **@_winwinnings** _replied_ : **@culturre_tech** Read the room jfc

\- ҉ -

“Hi Czennies!” Donghyuck says, smiling into the SM phone currently streaming to VLive, using it briefly as a mirror to fix his hair. He’s sitting on the lumpy green couch tucked away in a corner in the SM building used pretty much exclusively for this purpose, trying to keep himself from jiggling his leg in excitement. “I know you’ve been very curious to meet my soulmate, and we’ve decided that you’ve waited long enough! We both wanted to be open with you for the longest time, but finding each other so young complicated a lot of things.” Donghyuck glances over at Mark, standing just outside of the frame of the camera and he gives him a smile. “We’re here to come clean and tell you everything, so without further ado, please welcome my soulmate!” Donghyuck starts drumming on his thighs, and Mark laughs as he walks into the frame of the shot, sending a little wave to the camera.

“Mark-Hyung?” Donghyuck says, failing to hide the shit-eating grin on his face. “What are you doing here? You’re interrupting my soulmate reveal.”

Mark gives him a flat look. “Haha, very funny,” he says with a roll of his eyes, sitting down next to him on the couch.

Donghyuck lets out a giggle and takes a second to look at Mark, really look at him, the way he never lets himself look when they’re on camera. He’s been on alert for so long, avoiding touching Mark, never letting his gaze rest on him for too long, always trying to keep a respectable distance, that letting himself finally relax feels almost euphoric. Mark turns away from the camera to meet his gaze, and his eyes soften when sees the look on his face. Donghyuck knows he’s smiling like an idiot, but he can’t bring himself to care. For the first time on camera, he lets himself look at Mark like he’s in love with him, and he doesn’t care who sees.

“Hey,” he says quietly, smiling.

“Hey,” Mark says back just as quietly with an equally dopey smile on his face.

Donghyuck almost forgets about the camera. Almost.

“Ah, Czennies,” Donghyuck says, tearing his eyes away from Mark’s. “I would introduce you to my soulmate, but you already know him, I think. Mark-Hyung, please introduce yourself to our viewers.”

“Hi guys, it’s Mark, as, uh, you can probably tell,” Mark says with a cute little bow.

Donghyuck snorts. “And?”

“And I am Haechan’s soulmate,” Mark says. Donghyuck can see the relief and joy plainly on his face, and it makes him grin.

“Well?” Donghyuck says, after a beat of silence.

Mark’s face falls into a confused expression. “Uh, well what?”

“Aren't you gonna show them your soulmark?”

At that, Mark’s ears turn bright red “I, uh, is that really necessary?”

“Well, they’ve seen mine. I think it’s only fair.”

“Yours is in a less conspicuous place,” Mark argues.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “You got to choose where you wanted yours, so you only have yourself to blame. This is my revenge for having to put concealer on mine every day for the last eight years.”

“Well,” Mark says, leaning over towards him, pulling the collar of his shirt down slightly to thumb at the sun just rising from underneath his left collarbone, “now you’ll never have to do it again.”

If Donghyuck was a weaker man, he would’ve melted at that. Luckily, he’s not. “Stop being cheesy and take off your shirt.”

Mark rolls his eyes, but he lifts his shirt anyway, revealing a sun that perfectly matches Donghyuck’s in the center of his chest, overlying his solar plexus. Donghyuck reaches out a hand to smooth his fingers over it before Mark swats him away, pulling his shirt back down. “Are you happy now?”

Donghyuck grins, Cheshire cat-like, and winks. “Absolutely.” He lets himself bask in the warmth of Mark’s smile before he remembers that he should probably be interacting with the viewers, since that was technically the whole point of doing this live. “Ah, wait, let me get the iPad so we can see what Czennies are saying.”

Donghyuck gets up to grab the iPad set up to view the comments on the stream that one of the staff members is holding. When he goes back to sit down next to Mark, he sits sideways on the couch with his back against the armrest and deposits his thighs in Mark’s lap. Mark gives him a look, but then he brings an arm around his shoulders and pulls him in closer to press a kiss into his hair, so it’s hard for Donghyuck to believe that he’s really mad. Donghyuck lets out a pleased hum as he scrolls through the comments.

“They want to know how everything happened. Mark, how did everything happen?” Donghyuck asks, wriggling his eyebrows at Mark, who can only sigh in fond exasperation.

“Well, uh, on Donghyuckie’s first day at SM, or the first day I met him, at least, we were introduced, and I, uh, touched him kind of accidentally and yeah. That’s kind of how it happened,” Mark says and Donghyuck starts cackling.

“You’re doing a bad job,” he says, teasing.

“Fine, you do it then!”

“The first time Mark-Hyung ever saw me,” Donghyuck begins in a sing-song voice, “he fell deeply in love with me at first sight.” The rest of Donghyuck’s very truthful rendition of the history of their soulmate-hood is cut off by a loud-pitched screech as Mark tries to shove Donghyuck off of him.

“Oh, get real!” Mark says, laughing as Donghyuck hangs off of him, still screaming. They both collapse into each other in laughter, and Donghyuck is incandescently happy. When they finally come down, Donghyuck readjusts so he’s sitting directly in Mark’s lap and tries not to look too pleased when Mark’s arms sneak around his waist and pull him in closer. He returns his attention to the iPad that had been abandoned at the foot of the couch and starts looking at the comments again.

“‘If you’re soulmates why aren’t you roommates?’ I don’t know Mark why aren’t we roommates?” Donghyuck reads aloud.

“There was…an incident,” Mark tries, and Donghyuck snorts. “It’s over now, we probably shouldn’t talk about it.”

“Oh, you would say that we shouldn’t talk about it, wouldn’t you?” Donghyuck says, trying to rile Mark up a bit.

“Okay, that’s rich coming from you,” Mark says before he catches the look in Donghyuck’s eyes and realizes that’s exactly what he wanted him to say. “Yo, stop messing with me!” he says and Donghyuck can only laugh.

“Czennies don’t want to see us fight, look you’re making them sad,” Donghyuck says with a pout, turning the iPad around and shoving it in Mark’s face.

“Okay, okay, we’re not fighting!” Mark says, bringing a hand to stroke Donghyuck’s hair. “I give up anyway, you win, congratulations.”

“Mmm, talk dirty to me,” Donghyuck says with a wink at the camera.

“Jesus Christ, Donghyuck,” Mark says, attempting to shove Donghyuck off of him while Donghyuck whines and clings to him for dear life. “We’re literally doing a live.”

“They want to see us kiss,” Donghyuck says completely ignoring him.

“You’re not even looking at the comments.”

“Czennies, do you want to see Mark kiss me yes or no?”

After a few seconds, the comments start rushing in so fast that he can barely read them. Donghyuck cackles and shoves the iPad in front of Mark, making a kissy face.

Mark laughs, bright and happy, and acquiesces, planting a peck on Donghyuck’s lips. Donghyuck smiles back at him, wide and free. It’s been a long road, Donghyuck thinks, but as long as it leads right here every time, as long as he gets to do it with Mark by his side, Donghyuck wouldn’t mind traversing it again and again and again.

\- ҉ -

**[UPDATE] WOW! NCT Haechan Reveals That His Mystery Soulmate is Fellow NCT Member Mark**

[+3328 / -415] Haechan’s soulmate is MARK?????? What are they putting in the water at SM and where can I get some

[+1092 / -373]: ic ant decide if haechans luckier that mark is his soulmate or if marks luckier that haechan is his soulmate

[+342 / -178] okay but wbk

[+419 / -124] watching that vlive i swear ive never felt so single in my life

\- ҉ -

(On Donghyuck’s first day at SM, he’s introduced to the other trainees around his age, including one Canadian Mark Lee. Mark, in an effort to be welcoming to the new kid, clasps his hand on his left shoulder, and the edge of his finger brushes the skin underneath Donghyuck’s collarbone, exposed by the wide collar of his t-shirt. Donghyuck’s entire body erupts into flames, sparks shooting from the sliver of skin touching Mark’s finger down to the tips of his toes, engulfing him in a warmth that, paradoxically, makes every inch of his skin break out into goosebumps. The fire, after spreading, coalesces into a ball of white-hot heat right underneath Mark’s finger, searing the image of a sun into the skin on his chest.

Mark looks up from where he watched the mark appear on his skin with wide eyes, frozen in shock.

“Well,” Donghyuck says to his soulmate, “where do you want yours?”)


End file.
